The Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal on Friday dismissed Department of Telecom's plea challenging its jurisdiction on the 3G roaming issue. This comes as a breather to 3G operators who will now be able to present their case before the tribunal.
DoT had earlier filed a petition questioning TDSAT's jurisdiction to hear the case. Dismissing the application, a two-member bench headed by Mr Justice S.B. Sinha said, “We are of the opinion that this tribunal has jurisdiction to decide on this matter (3G roaming dispute). Thus, the applications are dismissed.”
The tribunal also directed five operators — Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Aircel and Tata Tele — to hand over copies of their 3G roaming agreements to the DoT. It also said that DoT, according to its earlier statement, would maintain confidentiality of the agreements. Operators expressed concerns with submitting the agreement on grounds that the document might get leaked to rival players.
The tribunal had already restrained DoT from taking any coercive action against them.